Caracas - Venezuela. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, candidate to reelection, appears on stage on the presidential campaign closing day. Supporters waited for many hours under heavy rain thinking Mr Chavez's sensitive health could keep him away from the event.
Caracas - Venezuela. March 5th. Thousands of supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez follow the funeral cortege around Caracas to say the last goodbye to their leader. After almost 15 years in power, Hugo Chavez died in Caracas in circumstances kept by the government in the most strict hermeticism.
Caracas - Venezuela. Supporters of the government shot in the air to celebrate the victory of Nicolas Maduro against Henrique Capriles. After Hugo Chavez's illness and death, Nicolas Maduro, Chavez designated successor, won the presidency in close and polemic elections in Caracas - Venezuela.
In the outskirts of Caracas at a government workshop about violence and crime, a young kid draws daily scenes of violence in his community. The age of entry in crime life is dropping and there are more and more cases involving young boys of 12 or 13 years old. The government has organized workshops for disarmament aiming to include community members in the fight against illegal weapons and violence.
A young girl protestor against the government of Nicolas Maduro holds a molotov cocktail for a portrait in San Cristobal, Tachira State on the border with Colombia.
In the Los Teques area in the Caracas suburbs, hundreds of people wait since early morning hours to try their chance to get any basic products regulated by the government such as oil, sugar, milk, or toilet paper. Government-subsidized products have artificially low prices that made the production unsustainable and opened the way for corruption, scarcity, smuggling, and price distortion as high as 500% between official and black market prices.
A young female protestor stands for a portrait while clashes take place in Caracas's east side after a march of opposition was diverted by police forces at different points of the city.
View of the Auyan Tepui at dawn from the Churun River in Canaima National Park in Canaima National Park in Venezuela and the house of the Pemon Kamarakoto indigenous group (or better said, the National Park is in their house and historical territory and not them inside the park) and cradle of the Kerepakupai Vená most known as "Angel Falls", the highest waterfalls in the world.
Diptych: View of a bottle containing 0.5 liter of gasoline the equivalent of its local price in gold of 0.05 grams or $1 USD making the liter at 2 dollars at Kamarata town in Canaima. This is maybe the most extreme example of the total rupture in the Venezuelan economy. In the rest of Venezuela, 50 liters (13.2 gallons) cost 0.01 cent of a dollar or even less, making the cheapest product in the country and giving opportunity for all kinds of corrupt activities like smuggling to Colombia and Brazil and reselling in the gold mining areas for hundreds of times its price.
View of a gold mine area right on the end of Kamarata Village very close to the important Auyan Tepui Mountain in Canaima National Park in Venezuela. As the crisis has been hitting harder the life of Venezuela, the mining activity has been constantly increasing and in this case is placed in the heart of the National Park and literally in the backyard of the Village destroying the soil and polluting the water.
Diptych: View of the pictures printed on the coffins of some of the victims of a massacre of between 17 and 28 gold miners in the Tumeremo area of Bolivar State in Venezuela, together with images of the flowers on their coffins. In recent years a constant battle has been taking place in the south of the state for the control of the illegal exploitation of gold and other rare and precious minerals. In this confrontation participate paramilitary groups from Colombia, FARC, and ELN guerrillas, Venezuelan organized criminal groups, and regular members of the Venezuelan military, police, and government.
Diptych: View of the pictures printed on the coffins of some of the victims of a massacre of between 17 and 28 gold miners in the Tumeremo area of Bolivar State in Venezuela, together with images of the flowers on their coffins. In recent years a constant battle has been taking place in the south of the state for the control of the illegal exploitation of gold and other rare and precious minerals. In this confrontation participate paramilitary groups from Colombia, FARC, and ELN guerrillas, Venezuelan organized criminal groups, and regular members of the Venezuelan military, police, and government.
Mr. Carlos Abati, an English teacher at "Victor Carvajal" school in Kamarata village, in remote Canaima, Bolivar State - Venezuela, says that is a very difficult time for both teachers and students. Mr. Carlos himself has not taken his salary for more than one year as the trip to the closest bank is more expensive than all the money saved in his account. The students on their side have been dropping school to work on gold mining as parents many times can't afford the expenses.
Mr. Juan Guaido, 35 years old, President of the Venezuelan National Assembly and designated interim President in a conflictive dispute for the chair of the country with Nicolas Maduro, is seen as an illegitimate President by different countries and a big sector of Venezuelans. Mr. Guaido is leading what his supporters see as a fight to take back democracy for Venezuela.
Friends and relatives of Nick Samuel Oropeza, 19 years old, carry the coffin with his body while passing in front of a graffiti stating "Maduro Murderer" in the Macarao area on the outskirts of Caracas. Nick was killed at a protest by members of the National Guard military forces.
Diptych (R): At "Cota 905" area of Caracas, view of the coffin of a 3 months baby girl that just died after suffering severe malnutrition and bad medical care. (L) At General South Cemetery of Caracas - Venezuela, view of the grave of the recently buried 3 months baby girl, and a relative buried in the same place a little time before.
View of the hand of Mrs. Claudia Molina, 58 years old, with the combination of medicines she takes twice a day. Mrs. Molina is currently under heavy pressure as her treatment might need to be stopped due to the lack of some of the needed medicines to have the complete treatment combination. Side effects such as stronger virus resistance to drugs can be seen when a patient doesn't take all the indicated medicines.
Daniela, the couple of my friend and colleague Daniel Torres and mother of his younger sons is seen letting fall a fist of dust over Daniel's coffin at his burial. Daniel, a driver for media and a personal friend was killed by 2 gunshots in the middle of a discussion over a couple of beers in Caracas - Venezuela.
Guarico State - Venezuela. Mr. Enzo Array shows his hand for a portrait holding a picture of his wife, Mrs. Parta Solorzano, who died just days before in the University Hospital in Caracas after 16 days of hospitalization. Mrs. Solorzano was a patient with a transplant but due to a lack of medicines, she got health complications, lost the transplant, and then died. Guarico State - Venezuela.
At the Cemetery of South in Caracas - Venezuela, "La Chiki", 19 years old with white stripes shirt, holds her aunt Elvira at the burial of her 3 months old baby that just died after suffering severe malnutrition and bad medical care. "La Chiki", as many young boys and girls amidst the crisis in Venezuela, is in a very difficult condition of homelessness and drug consumption.
View of different sandals; flips flops and similar shoes left by people participating in the looting of a Pepsi Co. processing and distribution center in Maracaibo; Zulia State in Venezuela. The area was heavily hit by the crisis and had a lack of running water; constant blackouts; gasoline and cash shortage and high levels of violence.
Mr. Leonardo Pinzon, the manager of food and drinks of the hotel "Brisas del Norte", stands for a picture in the presidential suite of the hotel. With 14 years working in the place for Mr. Pinzon, the situation is catastrophic as the hotel is completely destroyed, and amidst a heavy economic crisis, its recovery seems almost impossible at the moment.
Screen capture while trying to connect to the first official speech of Nicolas Maduro after the presidential elections of 2018. As the country was enduring a complex humanitarian crisis, the elections were highly criticized for their lack of transparency, the autonomy of the public institutions, and the repression against different sectors opposing the government of Nicolas Maduro who is in power since 2013 as successor after Hugo Chavez's death, who was ruling the country since 1998.
Migrants, daily workers, and people working carrying goods and materials to sell on the other side are seen irregularly crossing a path connecting Venezuela and Colombia close to the Villa del Rosario area in Norte de Santander Department in Colombia. This is one of the hottest spots for the constant crossing between the 2 countries as the Simon Bolivar Bridge, the main connecting point in the area has been closed for a long time.
After walking for hours out of the Arauca area in Colombia, and on their way to Bogota a group of migrants stops to cook some food they have received from inhabitants of the area and NGOs providing some basic assistance.
A portrait of young Lorena Velasco, 17 years old, at her house in the periphery of Arauca, after a visit from local community collaborators of the IOM. Lorena has suffered since an early age of some cognitive and physical development problems and has been for years being checked up in Colombia but with the increasingly difficult situation in Venezuela she and her mother Ms Doris Velasco have migrated to Arauca.
In the outskirts of the state of Mexico in a place of meeting for migrants on their way to the USA, "C", a man from Caracas, shows the santeria and Venezuelan spiritism necklaces he carries with him for protection.
At the Huehuetoca area on the outskirts of the State of Mexico, a family of Venezuelan migrants is seen walking around the train tracks looking for the best spot to wait and board a cargo train of merchandise that would take them to the northern borders of Mexico and the US.
At the periphery of Huehuetoca town in the State of Mexico, a migrant Venezuelan family pray together after boarding a cargo train in a rush.
"L.C", a Venezuelan migrant woman and very devoted person, holds a figure of Jesus of Nazareth that she has carried from Venezuela.
While looking for a spot to set themselves on the cargo train, "J.P." says he has seen a truck that looks like migration police and asks everybody to lie down.
Johan Paz holds in his hands his twin brother Erich's notebook with pages of translations of sentences in different languages like French, English, Italian, and Norwegian. Erich says he is curious about the world, the different cultures, and the idioms and wants to do audiovisual production, study translation, and keep doing his work as a baker.
"K", 3 years old, is carried on the shoulders of his dad as they walk trying to find a spot that would allow them to safely reach the train and continue their journey towards Mexico - US border.
Eugenio, Alejandra, and their daughter Emily stand for a picture close to the area known as "The Dump" on the outskirts of Huehuetoca town where most migrants with destination up north wait for the cargo trains.
With the arrival of the night and very low temperatures, a huge group made of Venezuelan families and migrants from Honduras, Ecuador, and Nicaragua, warm themselves at a fire in a remote area close to a dump on the side of the train rails in the periphery of Huehuetoca area.
"M.A and J.P" a young Venezuelan couple, are seen walking on top of the train they hope will take them towards the northern area of Mexico close to the border with the US. The young couple were working as nurses in Venezuela before the crisis push them to migrate, first to Colombia and then to Ecuador where they started a sentimental relationship. "J.P." got a job in the port but conflict between rival bands and a death threat made them decide to run towards the United States.
In the area of Irapuato, a young migrant woman looks at the landscape from the cargo train she and around 100 migrants are riding from the outskirts of Mexico City to as close as Ciudad Juarez they can get.
On the border between El Paso in the United States and Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, members of the National Guard of the United States in the state of Texas are seen in armored military vehicles at their control points. Texas Governor Greg Abbott (Republican) called the National Guard to the border after massive arrivals of migrants in one the biggest wave of migration the USA has ever seen.
View of migrants walking on the Mexican side of the area dividing Ciudad Juarez in Mexico and El Paso (Texas) in the USA. The area has been for years one of the most transited places by migrants trying to reach the United States.
On Ciudad Juarez, Mexican side of the wall dividing Mexico and El Paso (Texas), groups of migrants wait at the gates of a Border Police post to turn themselves to USA authorities and start their asylum petitions or apply in different ways to be allowed to stay in the United States.
L.C., 17 years old, is seen at Ciudad Juarez - Mexico, getting ready to turn himself in to the USA border police authorities. L.C. is a young Venezuelan migrant traveling alone trying to reach the United States.
View of one of the main streets in downtown El Paso in Texas where hundreds of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, are stuck after crossing irregularly to the United States from Mexico. Texas Governor Gregg Abbott has ordered checkpoints around the town and sending back migrants to Mexico by implementing Title 42, a Donald Trump measure that prevented migrants from seeking to obtain regular papers in the US under the risks of the pandemic.
The hand of Yenis Andrade, a Venezuelan and Wayuu Indiginous woman from Maracaibo in Zulia State, is seen holding different coins from the countries she visited on her long journey migrating from Venezuelan and then Colombia to the United States, including Mexico, Panamá, Guatemala, Nicaragua among others.
Diptych: L - Yenis checks her phone during a visit to the pediatrician to a control of her 8 months of pregnancy and for vaccination of Diana, her little daughter. R - A screen capture from a video showing Yenis Andrade and her then 1 year and few months old baby girl Diana while crossing the jungle of the Darien, at that time Yenis was already between 5 and 6 months pregnant.
Yenis holds her phone while showing a picture of most of the members of her family in the bus they have been sent with by Governor Greg Abbott (R) from Texas to New York.
At a deli store in the Queens area of New York, Yenis and Diana (Yenis and Alexis' first daughter) play together.
Yenis Andrade and her little daughter Diana are seen on a sunny afternoon in front of a hotel turned into a shelter for migrants where the family lives in the Queens area. The families often sit around the parking lot of the shelter to see friends and relatives as the place, a hotel turned into a shelter, doesn’t allow visitors.
Alexis Matos y Yenis Andrade talks to an officer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the building where they have an appointment to fill out legal documents for the process of their asylum petition.
Alexis Matos holds Diana in the air and kisses her while walking with his sentimental partner Yenis around the shelter area in Queens.
While Yenis fills out the legal documents for birth certificate and release from hospital care, Alexis Matos is seen holding in arms his recently born baby girl Arantza, a new United States citizen born in New York City.
